Cook is amped about his company’s latest gadget, and he kept singing its praises in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. The Siri-powered speaker is an enigma in the Echo-dominated smart assistant hub market, since Amazon’s speakers emphasize AI utility over sound quality.
When Cook was asked about the HomePod’s much-ballyhooed price — it’ll cost over $100 more than even Amazon’s upcoming Echo Show, which has a touchscreen — he shrugged off any concerns that consumers will be scared away and fell back on Apple’s greatest hits:

” If you remember when the iPod was introduced, a lot of people said, “Why would anybody pay $399 for an MP3 player?” And when iPhone was announced, it was, “Is anybody gonna pay”—whatever it was at that time—“for an iPhone?” The iPad went through the same thing. We have a pretty good track record of giving people something that they may not have known that they wanted. “

OK, that’s fair. Apple’s premium products fly off the shelves, even at significantly higher prices than competitors. But the HomePod isn’t a paradigm shift like the iPhone, and it doesn’t come along with a game-changing piece of software like iTunes. It’s a brick that sits in your living rooom.

The real reason Cook thinks the HomePod will resonate with Apple fans everywhere is because of our demand, nay, our need, for the best possible sound for our tunes.

“When I was growing up, audio was No. 1 on the list of things that you had to have,” he said. “You were jammin’ out on your stereo. Audio is still really important in all age groups, not just for kids. We’re hitting on something people will be delighted with. It’s gonna blow them away. It’s gonna rock the house.”